Neighbors to the Birds: A History of Birdwatching in America - Hardcover

Strom ( Birdwatching with American Women ) and Gibbons ( Dosso and Battista Dossi: Court Painters at Ferrara ), here concentrating on amateur bird watchers rather than ornithologists, attempt a social history of birding in the United States. The study covers early American naturalists, the development of the Audubon movement, the art and literature of birds, controversies over the psychology of animal behavior, conservation movements, and manuals for birders. There are strong chapters on naturalists Alexander Wilson, John James Audubon, John Burroughs and John Muir, and perceptive commentaries on the art of bird painting, but the book covers so many topics that it lacks unity. In addition, one would wish for discussion of some of the fine writing by contemporary naturalists rather than the tedious final chapters on field guides, birding tours, listings of contests and the like. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This literate and detailed yet popular account by historians documents Americans' interest in wild birds. Strom is author of Birdwatching with American Women (LJ 4/1/86). In this book, the two authors stress historical development, with chapters on the work of early colonial naturalists, as well as on Audubon, Muir, etc. Other chapters deal with artists, equipment, conservation movements, literature, women, and the sport today. The authors excel when they bring their historians' approach into play; they are less cogent and somewhat out of touch when covering contemporary themes. Nevertheless, this is an important and useful record of an increasingly popular area; it covers especially well the colonial period, and the time leading to the 1960s.
- Henry T. Armistead, Thomas Jefferson Univ. Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.